


locket

by ndnickerson



Category: Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene
Genre: Dating, Established Relationship, F/M, Flirting, Marriage Proposal, Post-Canon, Romance, Sex, Sharing a Bed, Sharing a Room
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2014-11-30
Packaged: 2018-10-19 01:42:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10629543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ndnickerson/pseuds/ndnickerson
Summary: Ned thought the best part of his night was winning the tournament game. He was happy to be wrong.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published at my Nancy Drew fanfic tumblr, nancydrewdiary.

Coach Burnett passed out the keycards, all slotted into envelopes bearing room numbers, as the members of the Emerson basketball team filed into the hotel. “All right, guys. Meet down here at 6 a.m. so we can hit the breakfast bar and then load up. Do _not_ get in trouble tonight. We have a long tournament in front of us. Clear?”

They nodded, both weary and exhilarated, spent and overjoyed. The game had gone into double overtime, and they had played their hearts out; Ned had poured every bit of his strength into it. The final point had been hard-won, but they were the victors.

Ned glanced down at his keycard envelope. “You rooming with me, O'Shea?”

Mike glanced down at his envelope, too. “Doesn’t look like it. That’s odd. Not that we’re gonna be spending much time in the rooms tonight, eh?”

It wasn’t exactly tradition, but they were too keyed up to go immediately to sleep, even if the next morning was going to come early. “Five minutes to get changed? And I need to call Nan.”

Mike groaned. “Yeah, I’d better give Jan a call, too. Make it ten, okay?”

Ned nodded. “Hey. Great job out there,” he called to Howie.

Howie raised his fist to bump it against Ned’s. “Couldn’t have done it without you, Big Nick.”

Ned was still grinning, his duffel slung over his shoulder, as he split off from the group and headed toward his room. Then he paused and looked back. Coach was good about keeping the players in a close block of rooms, to help keep an eye on them. Ned’s assigned room was on the same floor as most of the others, but down the left branch instead of the right.

He shrugged and kept walking. It was just strange, that was all.

He pulled out his keycard and slotted it into the lock, and when he pushed the door open, he saw that the light was already on. He dropped his duffel bag on the floor beside the closet with a groan, coming around the corner to see the bed.

Nancy was on a case, but she told him that she would watch the game as soon as she could and cheer him on despite her absence. She was excited for them, but she knew they would do great in the tournament.

It just meant a lot to him; it was his last tournament on the team, and he knew there would be other games, other dates, but he missed her presence. Not that many girlfriends had been able to travel and watch the game, but he had been hoping that she could make it. The case had interfered with her plans.

At least, he had thought it had. When he came around the corner, he saw his bed—with his girlfriend perched at the foot of it.

His hand was already on his cell phone, in his coat pocket; he immediately opened his arms, a wide grin lighting his face. “Baby! I thought you couldn’t make it…”

“I thought I couldn’t either,” she said with a grin as she pushed herself to her feet and skipped into his arms. “I only caught the last fifteen minutes of the game, but boy, that was a nail-biter. You did great, Ned.”

“Oh, Nan…” He kissed her neck. “Thanks. I’m so happy to see you.”

She smiled. “I thought you guys might go out celebrating and I’d have to track you down,” she said. “Although the way I was thinking about congratulating you… well, it might take a little privacy.”

“Oh?” He relaxed his hold on her, trailing his fingertips down her spine, and she shivered. “Please, tell me more.”

She took a step back, and he saw a little blush rise in her cheeks as she crossed her arms and gripped the hem of her sweater. She looked beautiful, with her reddish-gold hair falling in loose waves over her shoulders, and the locket he had given her resting just above her breasts. She began to pull her sweater up, and his gaze was riveted to her; he had forgotten everything else, other than the sight of her in front of him. She let the sweater drop to the floor, tossing out her hair, and then reached for the waist of her skirt, her gaze on his face. She unfastened it and let it drop to the floor too, and stood in front of him wearing a blue and pale-cream lace bra with matching panties.

“I thought it might start with this,” she said, her voice quiet and almost a little husky, and Ned felt his groin tighten in response.

He had just taken a breath when both of them were startled by a knock at the door. “Hey, Nickerson! You ready? Howie and Paul are coming too…”

“Uh—go on without me,” Ned called back. Nancy was smiling.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’ll see you in the morning,” Ned said, pulling his shirt over his head.

“You sure?” Nancy repeated, more quietly, as he reached for his fly next.

He nodded hard a few times. “Because I _definitely_ need to see what’s going to happen next, beautiful.”

“All right,” Mike called with a sigh. Once they were pretty sure Mike was gone, Ned took a few steps toward her, reaching up and touching the locket that hung between her breasts.

“Remember when I gave you this?” Ned murmured, looking into her eyes. “How I promised I’d always love you and be there for you?”

She nodded, holding his gaze. “And you have been, and I love you so much,” she murmured. “You’ve been incredible.”

“So have you, baby.”

She said that since he was undoubtedly still exhausted from his game, he deserved to take it easy for a while, and they had an entire king-sized bed to share. “And how did I get _this_ lucky?” he asked as he spread out in the middle of it. “I’m sure this had nothing to do with my gorgeous girlfriend and how very persuasive she can be.”

She smiled as she perched over him. “I wanted to treat you right, baby,” she said, leaning down to brush the tip of her nose against his. “And I definitely didn’t want an audience.”

“Trust me, I don’t either. The guys are already jealous enough of me. To see you, like this? Looking so incredibly sexy and beautiful…” He twined a lock of her silky hair around his finger, then let it go.

“All for you, Ned. Definitely all for you.” She arched luxuriously as he reached behind her and unfastened her bra.

“I just had a thought,” he murmured, gently cupping her bare breasts. “If this is what I get for Emerson winning in round one… what happens if we take the championship this year?”

“Who knows,” she teased him, leaning down again, moving to stroke the join of her thighs against his erection through their underwear. “Maybe I’ll decide it’s time to put a ring on it.”

“You’d be that proud of me.”

She paused and searched his eyes, her expression becoming more serious. “Always,” she murmured. “But I always will be. You do everything with your whole heart. You love me with your whole heart, and I’ve never doubted that. Whether you win or lose, you will still be one of the most amazing guys I’ve ever known.”

“One of?” He smiled.

“In bed? Definitely _the_.”

“The only,” he teased her back, and plucked at the band of her panties. “The only guy.”

“Doesn’t mean you aren’t,” she leaned down and pressed her lips to his as she murmured, “an _incredible_ fuck, Mr. Nickerson.”

Afterward, she curled up with him, still naked and gasping, their legs tangled together as he held her. She still wore the locket, but that was all; she pressed a kiss against his breastbone and he stroked her hair.

“If we win the tournament,” he murmured, “I am going to get down on my knees in the middle of that court and propose to you right there, right after that last buzzer sounds. Sweaty and exhausted and out of my mind with joy.”

“You wouldn’t.” She pulled back and glared at him.

“On national television, Nancy Drew. Because that’s how much I love you.”

She shook her head, and brushed the tip of her nose against his. “While we’re in bed after,” she told him. “While we’re like this.”

“And if we lose…” He gave a mock sigh. “I guess I’ll just have to wait until I win another game, to try it.”

“So you’ll challenge a seven-year-old to a game of horse on the playground court to earn your chance to propose to me again.”

He chuckled. “If that’s what it takes. Because you’re worth owning some elementary schooler to prove my masculinity.”

“Just what I’ve always wanted.” She heaved a mock dreamy sigh. “My hero.”

“And if I were to get on my knees right now.” His heart was beating harder, and she had to know that; she was so close to him.

She smiled. “I’ve never really seen the point of that,” she admitted, and ran her fingers through his hair as she looked into his eyes. “It seems like begging, and why would you want to beg? Or to put me on the spot in front of a crowd and put me under all that pressure?”

He shrugged. “I guess because I’d be afraid you wouldn’t say yes otherwise,” he admitted, trying to keep his voice as light and casual as hers. “Considering.”

“When have you ever had to beg me for anything, Nickerson?”

He propped himself up and began to count on his fingers. “Our first date. Our _second_ date. That trip I wanted to take last year? And…”

She rolled on top of him, shushing him with a kiss. “All right, all right,” she murmured. “So, a few things. But this? You… you wouldn’t have to beg me.”

“Even… right now?”

“Even right now.” Her voice was quiet, and then she looked into his eyes, and the nervousness he saw there was an echo of his own.

“Without a ring, without firm job prospects, without—without even a tournament championship.” He chuckled; he couldn’t help it.

“Because I’m just that shallow.” She shook her head with a smile. “ _You’re_ the guy I love, not—a marketing manager or the dazzling co-captain of Emerson’s championship basketball team. You, stripped naked with your heart in your eyes and your fingers on my skin. You.”

“And I need _you_ , Nan. The incredible, gorgeous woman in my bed, who has always been in my heart.”

They searched each other’s eyes. “Marry me,” they said at the same time, and then they laughed in relief, and she leaned down and touched her forehead to his.

“Marry me,” she murmured. “Because I never want to stop laughing with you, or feeling the way I do every time I’m in your arms.”

“Marry me, because this, what we have together—this is what we were meant for, you and I. My life is nowhere near as exciting without you.”

“And my life is nowhere near as happy, without you.” She touched his lips.

“Yes?”

“Yes,” she said, her voice a half-moan, half-sigh, and he caught her in his arms, holding her tight. When their lips met, he didn’t know how long they clung together, lost in the joy of the moment.

“Okay, we need to celebrate a _lot_ more often,” he announced when they surfaced, gasping, and the corners of her eyes crinkled when she laughed and collapsed against him, and his heart ached with love as he held her in return.

“Deal.”


End file.
